Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Pokorny Etymon: 1. bhel-, Balto-Slavic also bhelə-   'glittering white'

Semantic Field(s): to Shine, Glisten, White

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
English  
Old English: bǣl n.neut flame, pyre GED/IEW
pōl n.masc pool ASD/IEW
pyll n.masc pill ASD/IEW
Middle English: balled, balde, belde adj bald CDC/IEW
pool n pool W7
English: bald adj bare, shorn, lacking hair/feathers IEW
beluga n cetacean AHD/W7
effulgent adj re: brilliance, radiant splendor AHD/W7
foudroyant adj awesome, dazzling, thundering, overwhelming AHD/W7
pill n.dial pool, (small tidal) creek IEW/OED
pool n small deep body of water IEW
refulgent adj resplendent, shining radiantly AHD
West Germanic  
Old High German: pelihha n.str.fem bald coot GED/IEW
pfuol n pool IEW
Middle High German: belche n.str.fem bald coot GED
German: Beluga n.masc beluga LRC
North Germanic  
Old Norse: bál n.neut fire, flame LRC
Old Icelandic: bāl n.neut fire, flame GED/IEW
blesi prop.n.masc Blesi (nickname) GED
Danish: bældet adj bald IEW
East Germanic  
Gothic: *bala- adj gray, shining GED/IEW
Italic  
Latin: fulica n.fem bald coot GED/IEW
French: foudroyant adj foudroyant, lightning-like W7
Baltic  
Lithuanian: balà n.masc marsh GED/IEW
bãlas, báltas adj white RPN
bálti vb to be white, become pale GED/IEW
Latvian: balināt, balinu, balināju vb to bleach LRC
balti adv white LRC
balts adj white LRC
Slavic  
Old Church Slavonic: bělъ adj white GED/IEW
Russian: beluga, bieluga n beluga; sturgeon, white fish CDC/W7
belyĭ, bieluiĭ adj white CDC/W7
Albanian  
Albanian: ballë n forehead GED/IEW
Hellenic  
Hesychius' Greek Lexicon: φαληρός adj shining GED/IEW
φαλ(ι)ός adj shining GED/IEW
Greek: phainein vb to show W7
φαλός adj white, shining RPN
Indic  
Sanskrit: bhā́lam n.neut forehead; splendor, radiance GED/IEW

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
adj=adjective
adv=adverb(ial)
dial=dialectal
fem=feminine (gender)
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
neut=neuter (gender)
prop=proper
str=strong (inflection)
vb=verb

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code Citation
AHD=Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD=Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC=W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
GED=Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
IEW=Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
OED=James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933)
RPN=Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002)
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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